UNECE

Substantial importance of market surveillance became the driving motive for founding the Advisory Group of Experts on Market Surveillance (MARS) developing its activities under auspices of the working group dealing with policy in the sphere of technical harmonization and standardization (UNECE WG 6). This is a forum enabling meetings and exchange of views among the representatives of the market surveillance bodies from Europe, Commonwealth of Independent States, European Commission, the UNECE Secretariat as well as representatives from private sector and representatives of consumer bodies.

The MARS Group activities reflect the EU policy of Barcelona strategy on neighbourhood. Its goal is not to create obstacles to trade among new member countries and their neighbours, but to make use of those trade connections which were created in the country before its admission to the EU in such a way that they become beneficial for the whole enlarged EU together with the countries in question. Harmonization of trade praxis and requirements on products and services do not contain features of technical harmonization, there is only a regulatory convergence aimed at non-creation of the obstacles to trade for products fulfilling requirements of legally protected interests in the country of origin. The equivalency of legislation (the level of legally protected interests) is required to be adopted by the market surveillance in first place. Therefore the MARS Group creates a co-operation forum in the sphere of market surveillance. It is aimed at removing barriers preventing finding solutions in this philosophy.